Once upon a time in Kashmir

Through his paintings,artist Masood Hussain has managed to draw Kashmiris from across the world to his Facebook account

When Nighat Gundroo was going through Masood Hussains Facebook album,a painting caught her eye. It was of an old thatched house in a village with garlands of bright red chillies hanging from the windows and people sitting around the house. The painting reminded her of a similar scene from her ancestral village Rajpora in the Handwara district which she often visited with her father. When we left for the city,all the neighbours would gather to say goodbye,some even giving us garlands of chillies as presents, was her comment on the photo. The comment started a discussion with other visitors to Hussains online gallery,who spoke of their villages,families and friends. Familiar names and faces cropped up. People accidentally ran into someone they grew up with. All Kashmiris are connected,someone said. Its a small world, another commented.

The idea of uploading his work as a platform for discussion occurred to Hussain not so long ago. He was one of those people who stayed back in Kashmir during the unrest of 1997. Though I was home,it didnt feel the same without my friends. I was determined to start a dialogue with my lost brothers but I wasnt sure how to, he says. Hussain was then working on the album Transparent Strokes,depicting Kashmirs landscapes,its rich culture and day-to-day life. Then a couple of months back,Hussain uploaded his paintings on his Facebook account. Almost overnight,his account was flooded with responses from people all around the world. With nearly 2,800 friends on Facebook,he has brought a section of Kashmiris together.

Hussain has uploaded nearly hundred paintings through the albums,which have gained appreciation among Kashmiris as well as non-Kashmiris. His works take one through downtown Srinagar on an early winter morning,with people covered in shawls walking down the narrow streets. He captures the hustle-bustle around the floating vegetable market and paints scenes from the interiors of Kashmir,an area rarely captured by artists. His autumn view of Nishat Garden is a brilliant orange-and-gold watercolour painting of the ritual of burning the dry chinar leaves to make charcoal. Geetali Tare commented on Hussains Facebook page that her happiest memories of childhood were attached to the fragrance of the burning leaves and the sound of their crunching underfoot. Minakshi Watts wrote: I have so many memories of playing there with friends,walking around in the rustling leaves.

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The painting of Houses of Vitasta Banks that captures the view from the Ganpathyar Mandir triggers nostalgia in Nisar Mir,who wrote,My late friend Anupam Kaul and I would walk to the temple and do seven pheras around it,then sit on the beautiful steps of the temple with our feet in water and share our thoughts. People remembered an old barber chacha down the street in the market,or the vegetable seller who offered the best rates. Stories of love,loss,growing up and growing apart are often swapped on Hussains page.

The artist,who has studied graphic arts at Mumbais JJ School of Art and taught art at the University of Kashmir till 2011,uses watercolours because he believes in its transparency of communication. Pleased with the responses his project is getting,Hussain says that art has the ability to get things in motion. Our state has always undermined the importance of art. When it comes to art and Kashmir both,I guess there is a lot of work that needs to be done, Hussain says.

amruta.lakhe@expressindia.com

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